Eleven Regrets
by sae hyuuga -x
Summary: All he had left were the broken shards of her dreams. :.CloudTifa.:


**Eleven Regrets**

**Pairing:**Cloud x Tifa (with slight Zack x Aerith if you squint, because I can't stray away :3)

**Rating: **M

**Timeline:**Sometime after DoC.

**Summary: **All he had left were the shards of her broken dreams CloudTifa

**Note:**RANDOM FANFICTION/SLIGHT SONGFIC OF _**DEATH**_. -Insert maniacal laughter here-. Anyway, I just decided to make a Cloti story after listening to Mani Drive's song, 'Eleven Regrets'. This Fanfiction may be horrible, but I LOVE the song! And anything in _italic _would be Aerith talking. No, she never really said those things XD.

**Warnings:**Alright. I'm too young for that...'real M-rated stuff'...so this fic is just...slightly dark. But I svck at that stuff. And I said Cloud's eyes were 'ice' blue. ICE. ICE ISN'T EFFING BLUE. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME.

--

Wine colored eyes scanned the small bar dully, when they traveled to the wooden door. A spark of grief filled them momentarily, but the look on her face was washed away when a small, brown haired girl raced into the room, stuffed moogle in hand, and looked up at Tifa Lockhart. Her head tilted, causing the young girls' bangs to sway in front of her chocolate brown eyes, wide in curiosity. Tif'as own mirrored the emotion, and Marlene finally said, "you look so sad, Tifa."

She was sad. So very, very sad. Her heart ached in a pain that she couldn't shake off; something stirring deep within her, churning like the waves of the ocean and ceased to end. But she couldn't tell Marlene this. The girl was too young, too sweetly naive to know of ones' true feelings, because Marlene still thought love was just like in the fairy tales. A thing without loss or flaws. The poor child was so wrong.

"No...no, Marlene!" Tifa forced her lips to quirk upwards in a strained smile, "I'm not sad at all. It's just...uhm...," now she was stumbling upon her words. Marlene could see this, of course. For such a blinded girl, Marlene was good at peircing through shells and veiwing true emotions. She _knew _Tifa was sad. And it hurt, because now Marlene was hurting as well.

"You're worried about Cloud."

With that, Tifa's heart smashed, their shards poking at her stomach. Marlene --no, everyone-- knew of her affection for the ex-SOLDIER (wait, he never was one...). She never tried to tell Cloud himself, and the rest of AVALANCHE was either concerned, sad or annoyed.

_"When you're sad, Tifa, I think everyone else is, too. I knew someone like th-oh, what am I saying? Heh."_

.

.

.

Outside, Cloud Strife's icy blue eyes spared the bar a fleeting glance, finally resting on the window. There stood Tifa, his dearest childhood friend --if you could call her that-- with a tall glass in her hand filled to the brim with a murky, brownish liqiud. Sure, she worked in a bar, but Cloud had never actually seen Tifa drink that much.

Hastily, his feet carried him to the door, which he tore open, and he saw Tifa gulp down her drink in one swing just in time. Her back was to him, her knees were shaking, a several bottles lay at her bare feet. Strange. She hardly ever walked around here bare-foot. Reaching out to her weakly, Cloud tried to collect his words, feeling queasy when he realized _she _had been the one drinking all those bottles.

"T...Tifa...?" he asked meekly, and she spun around ungracefully, head bobbing stupidly as her face split into a huge, drunken smile. Her hair was a mess. Her eyes were droopy and clouded. Her clothes had what Cloud gussed was beer spilled over them --not to mention blood and vomit. Wait...blood?--. And her arms were splattered in a thick, crimson liquid.

Tifa gave a shrill, girly giggle followed by a tiny hiccough as she threw her arms around his neck, holding him. And he held her, because Cloud could feel Tifa slipping. No, not physically. Emotionally.

"Cloooooud...," she cooed, and Cloud could feel the blood on her arms grace his skin. She had done this to herself. And he knew why. "You're...f-finally h-home! It's been...one...whoooole...year. We've missed yoooouuu," Tifa sounded like she was drowning, Cloud noticed. Had he really done this to her?

_Of course. And it was his fault that his name was carved into Tifa's arms._

He simply held her there like that, tears stinging his eyes as a gloved hand smoothed out Tifa's once silky hair slowly and affectionatly. "I...I'm so sorry...," he whispered, swallowing hard on his own sob.

Tifa just laughed.

_"It's really easy to hurt someone. Making it up to them, or cheering them up, is a different story all together."_

.

.

.

It was another month when Cloud got a new delivery. He moved slowly across the room, dragging his feet carelessly when he stopped at the door. Taking a large intake of breath, he looked over his shoulder. And, sure enough, there stood Tifa.

Now a --_veryveryveryvery_-- broken women. She smiled weakly, waving at him. "You'll be back soon, right?"

He looked deeply in her eyes, but said nothing, only giving her a curt nod. When he finally closed the door, Cloud paused, and was sure he herd a strangled sob on the other side. He ignored it, because Tifa would be fine in another two seconds.

.

.

.

"Liar! You...! How...how COULD YOU?!"

"Please, Marlene list-"

"NO! This is your fault! This is ALL YOUR FAULT!!"

Now the anger inside him was burning brightly, and it shone through his face. Hands clenched into fists, he failed to notice the people that had just walked in. "Look! Tifa killed herself of her own accord, you understand?! It's not my fault!"

"Nothing is EVER your fault, isn't it? Me, Teef and Denzel had put up with you for _so long_, you know that?" before Cloud could retort, -amucholder,andsadder- Marlene fled, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. It took him a short while to register what had happened. Another few moments before Barret knocked him out; with no Tifa to stand up for him this time.

_"Death can...stop many things. Hearts will break, of course, but when something dies; another is born."_

.

.

.

The women's eerie silhouette caught his attention immediately. She looked so much like...

No. Aerith was dead. Everyone knew that.

"You came," a voice whispered, but it did not belong to the women standing in the middle of the flowerbed, staring mindlessly up at the sky, her hands clasped in a prayer formation. He knew that voice, though.

"Wh-Who's there?!"

"You know who it is. Open your eyes, Cloud."

"...My eyes are open...," he said slowly, feeling the presence of the other being drawing closer.

"No they weren't. They never...really have been," now the women in the center of the church spoke up, and spun around to face him. Cloud was right. It _was _the dear Flowergirl. She was 'visabley' transparent, obviously, but her green eyes still glittered like they used to before her death. Cloud, however, did not care about her eyes at the moment. He wanted to know what she meant by 'they never really have been'.

As if reading his mind, Aerith said, "you were never aware of her feelings. And, for that, the Planet has punished you."

"By taking..."

"The person you loved most way from you."

Both faded, leaving Cloud alone. And it was like that from that day onward.

_"If you never tell someone you really love them, then it will be too late. I...I should know..."_

.

.

.  
.

.

**DON'T REVEIW. Seriously. This is a /horrible/ Fanfic that was based on a song while trying to clear my head of all it's angst.**


End file.
